Stockholm, September 4, 2013 – Yesterday, at World Water Week in Stockholm, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coca-Cola Company announced support for new programs under their Water and Development Alliance (WADA) that will provide over 190,000 people with improved clean water and/or improved sanitation services by the end of 2015.

Catholic Relief Services is joining 18 other international scientific and development organizations in committing to fight the spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD), both major threats to one of Africa’s staple crops.

Cassava is an inexpensive and essential part of the daily diet of many Africans. The effects of these plant diseases are potentially catastrophic, threatenting the food security of 135 million people in East Africa alone, and upward of 300 million cassava consumers across the continent.

ADDIS ABABA, 15 October 2012 (IRIN) - Whether Africa can scale-up wheat production to meet growing demand will depend on governments’ support of local producers. A key test is whether they are willing to take on wheat import subsidies, which keep bread prices low and urban consumers happy, said experts at a recent five-day conference on African wheat production.

“Most often, politicians end up prioritizing the needs of the consumers, which is understandable, but not good for agriculture and the country in the long-run,” said an expert.

Mariam lives in Dawakin Tofa, a village
in Kano State, Nigeria, with her four children and six grandchildren. For
Mariam and her family, Malaria is a constant worry. They have no practical
protection from the mosquitoes that carry the disease and so every night
they risk being bitten and infected.

Last week, UNAIDS and UNDP in West and
Central Africa signed a memorandum of understanding with the Forum of Arab
and African Parliamentarians for Population and Development (FAAPPD), working
towards the goal of achieving access HIV prevention, treatment, care and
support services for all people in the region.

More than five million people were living
with HIV in Western and Central Africa in 2007.

- World cereal production in 2008 is
forecast to increase 2.6 percent to a record 2 164 million tonnes. The
bulk of the increase is expected to be in wheat following significant expansion
in plantings in major producing countries. Coarse grains output is tentatively
forecast to remain around the bumper level of last year. Rice production
is foreseen to increase slightly reflecting production incentives in several
Asian countries.